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The start was so good, a real page-turner in the beginning. But the story lost its charm in the mid. I felt the author tried to fit in quite a lot of drama, thereby, making the reader question the genuineness of the story of the protagonists. It didn’t quite seem plausible to me that anything and everything is happening to one family. And the ending also didn’t connect with me- it was as if the author wanted to somehow come to a conclusion, no matter how unreasonable it might come across. Even though the book touched upon a every important issue- the plight of the Indian farmers, yet it was a big disappointment.

However, there were some really nice quotes & shero-shayari in between. A couple of them I have penned down for you:

2. But she knows better than to fall into the trap of ‘belonging’. Just when you think you do, someone shows you that you don’t, or lets you go, or, worst of all, tells you you are free to leave. If rugs are so easy to pull from under your feet, it’s best not to stand on rugs at all.

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I was hooked right from the very first page of the book, like it was some kind of a spell. After such a long time, have I come across a book which soothes your mind and provides you solace, with its sweet love story written beautifully, almost magically by Jan-Philipp Sendker.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is a love story, but not a clichéd love story, I assure you! The author has weaved the story in such an exquisite manner that the reader cannot help but wonder about the intense connection between the two lovers, the passion that they have for each other, the unconditional love that is there in their hearts. This book surely is a 5-star and I would like to classify it as “un-put-downable”.

Below are some of my favourite quotes from the book:

But a confession, a disclosure, is worthless when it comes at the wrong moment. If it’s too early, it overwhelms us. We are not ready for it and can’t yet appreciate it. If it’s too late, the opportunity is lost. The mistrust and the disappointment are already too great; the door is already closed. In either case, the very thing that ought to foster intimacy just creates distance.

We wish to be loved as we ourselves would love. Any other way makes as uncomfortable. We respond with doubt and suspicion. We misinterpret the signs. We do not understand the language. We accuse. We assert that the other person does not love us. But perhaps he merely loves us in some idiosyncratic way that we fail to recognize.

And so there must be in life something like a catastrophic turning point,when the world as we know cease to exist. A moment that transforms us into a different person from one heartbeat to the next. The moment when a lover confess that there’s someone else and that he’s leaving .or the day we bury a father or mother or best friend . Or the moment when the doctor informs us of a malignant brain tumor.

P.S. I am so glad I picked up this book at the Book Fair last month. Icing on the cake? Got it at a 60% discount. 😉

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It’s the first time I am not certain whether I liked any book or not. Usually, it’s either “a hit” or “a flop”, “A great book” or “A poorly written book”. Clear black and white. But with The Sialkot Saga, well, I am utterly inconclusive.

OK, let me try explaining what I thought about this 560 pages long book.

The Sialkot Saga is a story of two protagonists who are born into two different families, and brought up in different cultures as they belong to different religious backgrounds. However, both of them are as intelligent, shrewd, strong, and courageous as one another.

Throughout the story, I was going through only one thought “How can anything and everything happen in the lives of these two people?” From World Trade Center attack, the Taj attack, the Harshad Mehta scam, to murders, deaths, same same lovers, infidelity et cetera et cetera. It seemed like the writer was trying to put each and every major incident in the world of history into the lives of his protagonists, which came across as unrealistic to me.

The parts where they con others, make fool of them are interesting, clever and funny. The BEST PART is the epilogue- superbly written.

Well, I would end the review by saying that the book did not live up to my expectations. I would rate it 3 stars.

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A rainy day brings up different moods in different people, I believe. For people in love, it must be full of romance and happiness. For some, it might be an opportunity to sit alone and read or write or contemplate with a steaming cup of coffee beside them. And there must be some to whom a rainy day brings up memories from past- good and bad.

However, for me, this day was a happy day. On this day, I was looking forward to a lot of new things/ new changes happening in my life. I was optimistic, hopeful, and “living in the moment”. For a person like me who loves to “go with the flow”, this day definitely is a treasure of wonderful memories!

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The Plot
“Before I Go to Sleep” is a thriller novel written by S.J. Watson. The story revolves around a woman who after a car accident becomes amnesiac. She wakes up every day not remembering the last 25 years of her life, which includes her marriage, her son, and her career as a writer. However, with the help of a doctor, she starts keeping a daily journal, which apart from helping her remember things, also makes her question the stories being told to her by her husband and she becomes determined to find out who she really is, what her life really is.

The Review:
I was expecting a lot from this book, basis the reviews I had read on Goodreads as well as on the back cover of the book. But alas, it did not live up to my expectations. I hardly found anything thrilling in the book and it surely was not a page-turner, according to me. I hate to put books down without finishing it, so I soldiered on till the end and the last 30 pages were the only pages which grabbed my attention. I admit the twist in the end was actually “woah” or “I-did-not-see-that-coming”. But overall, it was a book which could have been skipped!

Favorite Quotes:
1. “What are we, if not an accumulation of our memories?”

2. We’re constantly changing facts, rewriting history to make things easier, to make them fit in with our preferred version of events. We do it automatically. We invent memories. Without thinking. If we tell ourselves something happened often enough we start to believe it, and then we can actually remember it.”View all my reviews

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I am a 25 year old girl from India who loves books, music, and movies! And I also love to connect to people with similar interests and also with not-so-similar-interests.
Thank you for passing by my blog and follow me so that I know you and follow you back and may it be an interesting exchange of knowledge and thoughts!